The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced changes to the official results from the 2012 Summer Olympics on Friday. The changes saw a handful of medals redistributed following disqualifications stemming from doping sanctions.
The moment for some athletes has been nine years in the making as athletes who originally finished off the podium have now been upgraded to one of the three steps they watched others summit during the Games.
The sports affected by the changes were athletics, canoeing, and wrestling. In total, five events had their results modified.
Despite only picking up two bronze medals, Spain is perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the changes. Ruth Beitia was upgraded to a bronze medal in the women’s high jump after the disqualification of Russian athlete Svetlana Shkolina, while Alfonso Benavidez Lopes de Ayala went from 4th place to 3rd after Jevgenij Shuklin of Lithuania, who originally finished the race second, was disqualified.
Two countries saw their athletes upgraded to gold medals as well. Erik Kynard of the United States will get to exchange his silver medal for a gold one in the men’s high jump, while Komeil Ghasemi of Iran, originally a bronze medalist, was upgraded to gold after both the finalists in the men’s 120kg freestyle wrestling event were disqualified.
The situation in that event is further complicated by the fact that the other bronze medalist, Bilyal Makhov of Russia, is suspended until January 2024 for a doping offense.
According to the IOC, “no immediate arrangements will be made to present the gold medal to this athlete before the end of his suspension.” Makhov remains listed as a joint gold medalist with Ghasemi for the time being however.
The original losers of the bronze medal matches in that event, Daulet Shabanbay of Kazakhstan and Tervel Ivaylov Dlagnev of the United States, have also now been awarded the bronze medals in a weird twist.
Elsewhere, both of the gold medalists in the men’s high jump from the last two editions of the Olympic Games have been upgraded from joint bronze medalists to joint silver medalists, along with a third athlete from the host country. Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Mutaz Essa Barshim, Rio 2016 gold medalist Derek Drouin, host country athlete Robert Grabarz and will each receive the silver medal in due course. There will be no bronze medal awarded in the men‘s high jump as a result of the changes.
Lastly, Ivan Shtyl of Russia has been upgraded to a silver medal in the men’s C1 200m. There were no changes to the podium position in the women’s long jump, however the athletes who originally finished 4th, 5th, and 7th have now been disqualified.